NOTES: In Far East Russia, the Amur River area is the home of many native tribes who lived for centuries by hunting and fishing. They were remarkably similar to the Pacific coast tribes of the northwest United States and of Canada. For best effect, place NARRATOR 1 at far left, and NARRATOR 2 at far right, as seen from the audience. The BELDY WOMEN can double as the ZAKSULI WOMEN. Amur is pronounced “ah-MER.” Nanai is pronounced “nan-I,” sounding like “Nan eye.” Beldy is pronounced “BEL-dee.” Chubak is pronounced “CHOO-bak.” Udoga is pronounced “oo-DO-ga.” Zaksuli is pronounced “ZAK-soo-lee.”

BELDY WOMEN: (speaking randomly, all at once but not together) That’s right. We’ve had enough. Tell them to stay home.

NARRATOR 2: Chubak said to Udoga,

CHUBAK: She’s right, brother. There’s been enough war.

NARRATOR 1: Udoga told the women,

UDOGA: We’ll see what we can do.

NARRATOR 2: Not long after, the men also came to the twins.

BELDY CHIEF: Chubak, Udoga, give us your counsel.

NARRATOR 1: Chubak picked up a warrior’s bow.

CHUBAK: Never has a clan been so insulted! If the thief had taken a sable, we could forgive him. The skin of a sable has value. But a weasel skin is almost worthless. It must have been taken just to shame us. If we are shamed, we have no honor. If we have no honor, we are dead. The Zaksulis have killed us!

UDOGA: The Zaksulis have killed us, so now we must kill them back. All their men must die. Death to the Zaksulis!

BELDY MEN & CHIEF: (together) Death to the Zaksulis! Death to the Zaksulis!

UDOGA: But wait! This is no ordinary war. The Zaksulis are so evil, the place where they live is evil too. We must not let this evil touch us. We must take a vow not to eat any food from their land or drink a single drop of their water.

BELDY MEN & CHIEF: (randomly) We swear it! We swear it! (together) Death to the Zaksulis! Death to the Zaksulis!

NARRATOR 1: The women were sad.

BELDY CHIEF’S WIFE: What hope do we have, when even the twins go to war?

NARRATOR 2: So they set about preparing the men’s food.

NARRATOR 1: The next morning, the men loaded themselves with as much food and water as they could carry.

NARRATOR 2: Then, taking the twins with them, they started off to the Zaksuli village.

BELDY MEN & CHIEF: (together) Death to the Zaksulis! Death to the Zaksulis!

NARRATOR 1: They walked all day. It was slow, hard going, with all they had to carry. So the farther they went, the angrier they were at the Zaksulis.

BELDY MEN & CHIEF: (together, louder) Death to the Zaksulis! Death to the Zaksulis!

NARRATOR 2: At last they came upon some Zaksuli women gathering berries.

NARRATOR 1: Chubak called,

CHUBAK: (belligerently) You women! We are coming to your village! We won’t leave a single man alive!

ZAKSULI WOMEN: (randomly, to each other) Oh no! The Beldies! It’s the Beldies!

NARRATOR 2: The women ran off to warn their men.

BELDY CHIEF: (in dismay, to Chubak) Why did you let them know? With all we’re carrying, those women will get to the village long before we do. The men will hide in the lodges, and we’ll have to wait them out!

UDOGA: What is that to us? Nothing they do can save them. (to all the men) Death to the Zaksulis!

BELDY MEN (but not CHIEF): (together) Death to the Zaksulis! Death to the Zaksulis!

NARRATOR 1: The Beldies reached the village, but the Zaksuli men were already hiding inside.

NARRATOR 2: They were not like the Beldies. They did not want to fight. They wanted to stay put till those crazy Beldies went home!

NARRATOR 1: The Beldies hid all around the village in the tall grass and the bushes.

NARRATOR 2: They knew that sooner or later the Zaksuli men would have to come out. They would need to hunt and fish. Then they would have to face the Beldies.

NARRATOR 1: The next morning, the Zaksuli men did not come out.

NARRATOR 2: But the women came out. And they carried big sticks.

NARRATOR 1: The wife of the Zaksuli chief yelled,

ZAKSULI CHIEF’S WIFE: You stupid Beldies! Why don’t you go back to your village where you belong!

NARRATOR 2: Then the women searched for the Beldies in the grass and the bushes. When a woman found one, she beat him with her stick.